Did critics want more from Oliver!?

Gareth Carr, WhatsOnStage
★★★★★

“Bourne both directs and choreographs his brilliant company (a nod here to Felicity French and Paul Wooller for some knockout casting) with an eloquence of movement that fills the stage and creates some wonderfully vibrant moments of storytelling. Huge song and dance routines fill every square inch of stage space with rollicking fun and energy. ‘Consider Yourself’ and ‘Oom Pah Pah’ are genuine moments of pure theatrical pleasure that will leave you exhausted just watching.”

Georgina Brown, The Mail

★★★★★

“While still an unashamed love letter to Bart and to a robust, raunchy Dickensian London, the tone is more complex, striking darker notes and, once it gets going, telling a gripping tale which sends shivers down the spine, thanks to Aaron Sidwell’s bloodless, steely, chillingly brutish Bill Sikes. That scar on his skull spells danger.

“Bourne’s spring-loaded, high- kicking, petticoat-flouncing dancers fill every inch of the stage. With the revolve working overtime, designer Lez Brotherston conjures up a giddying canvas of glorious, gritty views of London, capturing the boisterous bustle of street life with lovely murky backdrops of the Thames and St Paul’s on the skyline, as well as scenes of quiet cruelty behind closed doors.”

Matthew Hemley, The Stage
★★★★

“The opening, all thunder and lightning outside the gothic gates of the workhouse, resembles a Tim Burton film, while the impressive revolving stage, flanked by a junkyard-style bridge and linked by a drawbridge to other parts of the set, has more than a whiff of Les Misérables about it.

“Bourne makes the most of numbers such as ‘Consider Yourself’, in which his choreography really shines, while ‘I’d Do Anything’ sees the cast recreate a horse and cart one minute, and a sailing boat the next. It’s lovely to look at. This is a show that in the very best sense leaves us, just like Oliver, wanting more.”

Dominic Cavendish, The Telegraph
★★★★

“Both the novelty and the niggles are immaterial besides that cavalcade of imperishable classics and the constantly moving sight of a vulnerable boy holding his own in a largely adult world (with Billy Jenkins’ treasurable, capering Dodger cutting a more teenaged figure than usual, and Aaron Sidwell more sneering than growling as Sikes but still a menacing fiend).

“On opening night, the wide-eyed, sweetly smiling 12-year-old Cian Eagle-Service took the lead, melting hearts from that famous first request for more gruel, past the plaintive, prayer-like solo “Where is Love?” and on to the climactic, unapologetically melodramatic, rescue. “He should have taken the final bow” someone muttered. I think so too.”

Clive Davis, The Times
★★★★

“In the end, there’s no need to be alarmed. This version of the vintage musical, which is heading to the West End in the autumn, may be more intimate than the productions Mackintosh presented at the Palladium and Drury Lane, but it’s still very much Bart’s show. It’s not the first time, either, that Bourne has taken charge of the choreography.”

“Shanay Holmes’s Nancy earned some of the loudest cheers for an impassioned rendition of “As Long As He Needs Me”, which provides a measure of anguish amid all the jollity.”

Arifa Akbar, The Guardian
★★★

“In spite of all the elegance, pace and poise, it feels safe, tame and nostalgic. Cameron Mackintosh worked with Bourne on a 1994 production of Oliver!. This time, Bourne directs too, along with Jean-Pierre van der Spuy, but there is no imprint of the former’s usual daring and dangerous interpretations of the classics. Revised by Mackintosh, it feels surprisingly – disappointingly – faithful. There is the sense of a show that is immaculately orchestrated rather than one that comes with a big enough emotional life.”